Fading Natsu
by dragneellover269
Summary: Natsu was fading, and nobody in the guild, not even Happy, noticed(or so he thought). As he began to slowly disappear, he's given a second chance as the man he loves(though he doesn't realize it) comes to his rescue. Can Natsu be saved? Or will he disappear from the world? Enjoy! Gratsu fanfic! Sorry if Natsu is a bit OOC!WARNING: CHARACTER DEATH!
1. Chapter 1 Fading Natsu

Chapter One: Fading Natsu

Natsu was fading, disappearing from the world . . . and nobody even bothered to notice this. They didn't notice the change in his personality either. It was as if nobody cared, as if nobody thought he mattered anymore. Everyday, Natsu felt himself get weaker, and his hands had started turning transparent. Because of this, he began covering them with gloves, and still nobody noticed this change.

Day after day, week after week, Natsu felt himself falling deeper into his depression, but there was still a flicker of hope deep within him that even he wasn't aware of. That was that the person he cared about the most would take notice of these changes and try to help him through it. That person, although Natsu hadn't realized it(yet), was Gray, his oldest friend and greatest rival. But there was more to it than just camaraderie, there was an even deeper feeling there. There was love.

***FTFTFT***

It had been two months since Natsu had started fading and falling into his depression. As happened every day for those two months, nobody (supposedly) noticed Natsu's gloomy mood, except for Gray (supposedly), but Natsu hadn't noticed that. Gray watched Natsu for about forty-five minutes until he'd had enough of it, and finally walked over to the fire dragon slayer.

"Natsu, what's been up with you lately? You've been acting really strange!" Gray couldn't keep the anger out of his voice as he said this. Natsu had secretly been worrying everybody in the guild and hadn't even bothered to pretend to look happy, which only made it worse.

The dragon slayer only ignored him, apparently lost in his own thoughts. This only made Gray even madder and he decided to attack the pinkette to get his attention and snap him out of his gloomy mood.

This didn't result well, though, because when he round house kicked the man and Natsu hit the wall and snapped his head up, Gray noticed the tears in the man's eyes. The ice mage was at a loss for words, and could only watch as Natsu ran out of the guild to God knows where.


	2. Chapter 2: Second Chance?

Chapter Two: Second Chance?

***Natsu's POV***

Natsu had been thinking about how nobody seemed to have noticed the change in his attitude or his appearance when he faintly heard Gray, and Happy long before that, talking to him. The pinkette hadn't quite processed that fact when all of a sudden he felt pain explode in his side, and he went flying into the opposite wall.

The dragon slayer hadn't even realized that he had been close to tears at that one moment. Natsu had snapped his head up in surprise when he hit the wall, and noticed the speechless look on Gray's face. That was when he finally noticed the tears in his eyes, and felt embarrassment and fear well up in him. The man was afraid that the ice mage would notice the change in his personality and Natsu would start to become a burden to him.

He didn't even know what he was doing when he began to run away from the guild. Happy tried to follow after him, but Natsu was running too fast for the small cat to follow.

As Natsu ran through the streets of Magnolia, the townspeople stared, but went on with their daily lives. The pinkette's vision blurred as he ran due to the tears that ran down his face, but didn't stop running. It felt like he had run miles when Natsu heard yelling behind him saying," Natsu, stop running! Please! Natsu!"

He didn't stop running though. The only thoughts running through his head were_ I have to get away from here! I can't stand it there! I have to get away!_

***Gray's POV***

After Gray and the rest of the guild finally snapped out of their shock, Lucy, Erza, Gray, and Happy ran(or flied on Happy's case) after him. To Gray's surprise, Natsu didn't stop when he reached the forest, but kept running.

He yelled,"Stop Natsu! Let's just talk, so please stop!"

Erza tried to stop the ice mage and tell him to let Natsu be and let him cool down, but he refused and kept going after him. Gray was the only one left chasing after Natsu at that point, and finally caught up to him. The raven haired man grabbed Natsu's wrist to stop him and said,' Stop running and tell me what's going on with you. You're worrying everyone-"

"Yeah right," Natsu spat, interrupting the other man, "They don't care about me. They didn't even notice how I changed. They don't care about me at all, so why would they worry about me!"

just

The outburst had shocked Gray, but then he snapped at Natsu saying,"Of course we care. Everybody in the guild does. All of us have been worried about you, but we assumed you just needed space. I'm sorry, but don't just assume things! The whole guild loves you and worries about you Natsu, especially me!" Gray ended his rant yelling and breathing heavily.

Natsu stared at the ice mage with wide eyes and whispered,"Y-you . . . you love me? Since when?"

Gray hadn't even realized what he had said until it was too late, and whispered back, "Yes, I do. I have since I met you."

***Natsu's POV***

With those words Gray had said, Natsu felt that small flicker of hope grow into a raging fire and thought to himself _I have a second chance at life. Maybe Gray can stop me from fading._

But then, he felt that raging fire of hope shrink into something more like a match, but it was still there and Natsu still felt that maybe, justmaybe Gray could save him from fading into nothing, and for the first time in two months Natsu gave a genuine smile.

"Do you mind if I spend some time alone for a while? I need to think," Natsu asked.

Gray answered, "Sure, just make sure you come back," and walked out of the forest, leaving Natsu alone to sort his thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3 Decisions

Chapter Three: Decisions

Gray's POV

"Can you leave me alone for awhile? I need to think,"Natsu asked.

Gray stood there in shock. It hadn't been the question that surprised him, but the smile that accompanied it. A small but genuine smile. He and the guild hadn't seen a smile from Natsu in two months, and it relieved the ice mage immensely to see it.

"Sure," Gray said, "but make sure you come back."

As the man left the forest, fear gripped his heart. _What if Natsu doesn't come back? What if he runs away and we never see him again?_

Gray pushed those thoughts away, along with his urge to run back to Natsu and drag him all the way to Fairy Tail. The raven haired man put his trust in Natsu and his resolve. When he finally got back to the guild, everybody attacked him with questions.

All the ice mage said was,"Natsu just needs time to think. He'll be back soon," and walked over to the bar.

The man began to think about his sudden (sort of) confession to Natsu, and his face turned red. If anyone noticed this, they didn't acknowledge it. Even in his embarrassment, Gray felt strange sense of happiness at the fact the he finally (sort of) confessed to Natsu, and wasn't pushed away in disgust.

But there was still the issue of Natsu's behavior change. Though he got _something_ from Natsu, he didn't get any real answers.

It was then that Gray decided. He would get answers from the dragon slayer as soon as he returned.

***FTFTFT***

Natsu's POV

In the two hours that Natsu sat in the forest, he drew to one conclusion: he was in love with Gray. When he first realized it, he tried to deny it, but soon resigned himself to the fact.

Burying those thoughts deep within his mind, Natsu began to take his gloves off and see how much progress the fading had made. What he saw almost made his heart stop. The transparency had spread almost to his wrists since the beginning of the day, and it was only noon!

_It's never spread this fast _Natsu thought._ What the hell is happening to me?!_

The dragon slayer had started panicking, but soon calmed himself, and started thinking about telling Gray about him fading, but quickly dismissed the thought.

Natsu heard leaves rustle and quickly pulled the gloves back on, just in case it wasn't an animal. To his relief, it was only a rabbit, and the pinkette relaxed.

He felt immense guilt at the fact that he wasn't telling Gray, or the whole guild for that matter, about him fading. Natsu steeled his resolve and decided he wouldn't tell anyone about it.

_I can take care of myself_ the dragon slayer thought.


	4. Chapter 4 Nightmares

Chapter Four: Nightmares

Natsu's POV

Natsu began to walk back to the guild once he decided he wouldn't tell anyone about his fading. The fact that it was spreading a lot faster then usual worried him, and he couldn't help but worry that it would go past his wrists before he went home. If that happened, he would run the risk that someone in the guild would see it.

With that thought, Natsu resolved that he would take a job once he got back to the guild. As he walked to the guild, Natsu felt eyes of the townspeople in him, and whispers coming from them that the dragon slayer couldn't make out. Although this was going on around Natsu, he ignored it and continued on to Fairy Tail.

After about five more minutes of walking, he made it back to the guild. When he walked in, many worried glance were thrown at him, but nobody asked any questions. _I'm surprised I never noticed how worried they've been about me. I guess they really _do_ care about me _Natsu thought.

As soon as the dragon slayer thought he in the clear for being asked questions, Gray walked up to him and asked," Can we talk? I want answers."

Everybody currently in the guild got quiet, listening intently to what was being said. Natsu noticed this and said,"What answers? There's nothing to ask."

Although the pinkette looked calm on the outside, and fooled everyone with it, he was, in truth, panicking on the inside. He noticed Gray shaking, most likely with rage, and his eyes were covered with his bangs, so Natsu couldn't see his eyes.

Gray's voice was dangerously calm when he said,"What the hell does that mean? I want to know why you've changed so much. You used to be so happy and you would smile all the time, but now you just mope around the guild and go on jobs alone. What happened to how we always fought together? What the hell has happened to you?"

Natsu just stared wide eyed at Gray, but the shock soon wore off. The dragon slayer didn't say anything, only stared at the ground, his mind working overtime.

_I don't know what to do! Should I tell them? No! I can't tell them but I can't just run away again either! What do I do?!_ Natsu thought, panicked.

Natsu's world started to spin, and his calm mask started to slip. Then everything went dark.

Gray's POV

Gray wasn't sure what was going on in the pinkette's head. He had this calm, blank look on his face, and he stayed like that for about a minute before Gray saw panic on his face. Soon after that, Natsu passed out.

The whole guild rushed over to him, but the ice mage was the first to reach the dragon slayer. He quickly picked Natsu up bridal style and dashed up the stairs to the infirmary, with the rest of Team Natsu following behind him. The master told Jet to go get Porlyusca and bring her to the guild.

It took about fifteen minutes for Porlyusca to arrive from her house in the forest. She was quickly ushered up to the infirmary. Gray and Team Natsu had been by his side the whole time, and couldn't see anything wrong with him that they could see. Then a horrible thought came to Gray's mind_ What if I caused this? I probably put too much stress on him when I started asking questions. _Gray's train of thought was interrupted when Porlyusca walked into the infirmary.

Team Natsu was forced out of the sick bay while Natsu was examined. Worry began eating away at him, and he could only think of the worst possibilities of what was wrong with Natsu. His thoughts continued like that for half an hour until the door opened and the master and Porlyusca came out with grim, and somewhat confused, faces.

"What's wrong with Natsu?!" Gray and the rest of the team asked.

"You can go in and see for yourself. It should be easy enough to see," Porlyusca said, still holding her grim mask.

Confused, the team rushed into the infirmary, and to Natsu's bedside. At first, Gray couldn't see what was wrong. Natsu's breathing was slightly uneven, as if he were having a nightmare (hint hint), and there was a shiny sheen of sweat on his skin, but other than that, he couldn't see what was wrong.

Then his eyes traveled to the dragon slayer's arms, and he knew what was wrong. Natsu was slowly disappearing from the hands up. The fading had reached almost to his elbows. Beside him, Gray heard shocked gasps and muffled sobs.

"W-what's happening t-to him?" Lucy asked.

***FTFTFT***

Natsu's POV

A nightmare. He was having a nightmare. Natsu had been having nightmares for awhile now, since he had started fading, and all of them had been pretty bad, but this was the worst of them all.

He was inside the guild hall, but something was off. Everybody in the guild was sending him hateful glares, and the person giving him the worst glare was the man he loved, Gray. Just that was enough to make Natsu's heart break.

One tear traced its way down the pinkette's face. This simple action seemed to set the whole guild off, even Happy. All of them attacked him at once, and when Natsu tried to raise his arms to defend himself, but found he couldn't move. When he tries to call out for them to stop, he found the he couldn't talk. All he could do was stand there as his family moved to attack him.

Then he felt the first attack meet his gut, and saw that Gray had been the one to land the blow.

"I hate you. I have always hated you. All of us have. We only kept up the act of caring about you so we could use your power for ourselves. We have always hated you and always will!" Gray yelled harshly. Hot tears fell from Natsu's eyes. If his heart had been broken before, it was nothing but dust now, never to be fixed.

After Gray's statement the rest of the guild assaulted him with magic and harsh comments.

***FTFTFT***

Gray's POV

"We know what's happening to Salamander," a voice said behind them. The group turned around to see Wendy and Gajeel in the doorway.

"Tell us then!" Gray practically yelled.

"Well," Wendy began, "when a dragon slayer feels strongly about being unwanted or unneeded, their existence begins to fade."

"When it does," Gajeel explained,"everybody that dragon slayer knew will go on with their lives as of the dragon slayer never existed in the first place."

***FTFTFT***

Natsu's POV

The scene of Natsu's nightmare changed. He found himself in complete and total darkness. When he yelled for help, the only thing that answered him was an echo of his voice. The dragon slayer couldn't tell which way was up or down or left or right. All he knew in that place was darkness.

After only a few minutes, the darkness had become suffocating and unbearable. _Where am I? What the hell is this?_ Natsu thought, trying not to let the panic rising in his chest swallow him.

After what felt like an eternity, Natsu saw a bright light he had to shield his eyes from. When his eyes got used to the light, the pinkette could make out a silhouette, though he couldn't tell who it was.

All of a sudden, in a flash of bright light, the darkness turned into a white walled room about one hundred meters across in either direction. Natsu discovered that the silhouette he saw . . . was Gray. And the look on the ice mage's face was murderous rage.

That look made Natsu's heart break all over again. He froze both in shock and fear.

"I'll kill you, flame-brain," Gray hissed in a dangerously low voice that sent shivers down the dragon slayer's spine.

And then anger replaced Natsu's fear, giving him an adrenaline rush. His whole body lit up in flames, shocking dream-Gray. Once the ice mage got over his shock, he said,"Ice Make: Lance!"

As the ice lances shot through the air, they somehow made it through the pinkette's raging fire and pierced him. Three stabbed Natsu through his right forearm, the left side of his lower abdomen, and the last hit him right below his right collarbone. The dragon slayer cries out in pain. He began crying, not from the pain, but from what Gray had done to him, even if it was just a dream, As if Natsu had been fighting for hours and not seconds, all the energy drained out of his body.

It was then that Natsu woke up, feeling strangely week. A shocked gasp came from his right side.


	5. Chapter 5 Pain of Loss

Natsu' s POV

When Natsu heard the shocked gasp, he turned his head to the right to see Gray, his face wet with tears. This thoroughly confused Natsu, as he hadn't seen Gray cry since the Galuna Island incident.

"You're awake," Gray said quietly, voice cracking on the last word. Natsu was slightly dazed when he first woke up, but then his nightmares came flooding back to him, causing the pinkette to flinch, but he made sure it wasn't too noticeable. He could sense that the fading was spreading even further up his arms, so he managed to sit up so that Gray wouldn't notice the change.

"Gray, why are you crying?" Natsu asked, unable to look the ice mage in the eye, instead looking at the wall over his shoulder. Gray visibly stiffened at the words, and seemed hesitant to answer the question. The dragon slayer finally summoned the courage to look him in the eye, and saw fresh tears flowing down his face. Natsu felt fear creeping its way into his heart, burrowing deeply into it, making his heart speed up even more than it had, due to his nightmares.

"What is it, Gray?" he asked, covering up his fear with anger. This seemed to shock Gray out of his silence.

"I-it's Lucy. S-she's dead," Gray said quietly, voice barely above a whisper. All the pinkette did was stare blankly at the ice mage. Pain stabbed at Natsu' s heart, making him flinch, and making it hard to breathe as well. Silent tears slipped down the dragon slayer`s face, his eyes becoming empty and dull, almost emotionless.

One question was spinning around in Natsu`s head: How did Lucy die? Natsu voiced the question, his voice just as dead as his eyes. Pain flashed in Gray`s eyes, and it was at that moment that the pinkette noticed the bandages covering the ice mages shirtless body.

Even though he hadn't been expecting it, only mild surprise registered in his grief riddled mind. Gray sighed heavily, probably preparing himself to tell the story of how the celestial mage died.

"Erza, Lucy, Happy, and I decided to go on a job, at the Masters insistence. It a request to put a stop to some bandits a few kilometers out of Clover City, two days ago. We took a train out there and went to where the most frequent attacks had been. When we got there we stakes out and kept watch for the bandits. We had been distracted and worrying about you during the job, so the bandits were able to sneak up on us," Grays paused in explaining how the girl died, apparently caught up in his emotions.

Natsu was patient and allowed Gray to calm down and collect his thoughts. "Since they had the advantage of surprise,"Gray continued,"they managed to injure us. It turned out that one of them was a mage, and he attacked Lucy with his magic, landing a fatal blow. Erza and I managed to defeat all the bandits, including the mage, but we were unable to get Lucy back to Fairy Tail in time to save her," at this point Gray was about ready to break down.

Natsu began to shake from the heavy, emotional pain he was feeling. _If only I could have been there. If I hadn't kept my fading a secret then they wouldn't have been worrying and Lucy wouldn't have died! I'm useless! Nobody in the guild needs_ _me! _He couldn't control himself anymore. The dragon slayer jumped out of the bed and jumped out the window, startling the people underneath it on the ground. Natsu didn't stop running. Not when he reached the forest. Not when he heard yelling behind him. The whole time, tears had been running down his face, and blowing back in his wake.

Gray`s POV

After Gray had finished explaining how Lucy had died, he was close to breaking down, but managed to hold the tears back. He noticed that Natsu had started to tremble, but couldn't see his eyes because they were covered up by his bangs. Tears began streaming down the pinkettes face, surprising the ice mage.

_This is all my fault _Gray thought _If I had been more on guard, Lucy wouldn't have died and Natsu wouldn't be going through this. _Out of nowhere, Natsu jumped off the bed and out the window. The dragon slayer hit the ground running, the ice mage following close behind.

_Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit! He's probably blaming himself for this! I can't lose Natsu! Not right now! I need him and I know for a fact he needs me! _the ice mage thought desperately.

Gray started to yell for Natsu to , but he just ignored them. When he started to get close to the pinkette, something wet dripped onto his face. The ice mage realized that they were tears coming from Natsu. It hurt the raven haired man's heart to see his love crying like that. It seemed as though the dragon slayer would never stop running through the forest (when did they get in the forest?) when Natsu stopped all at once, dropping to , sobbing harder than Gray had ever seen him before.

Gray ran over to the pinkette and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him to his chest in the most comforting way he could. He noticed something about Natsu as he looked down at the other man, and it made his heart practically stop in his chest. Natsu`s whole body was slowly becoming transparent, disappearing.

"No! Natsu, you can't disappear! I need you! I love you, you idiot! You can't disappear dammit!" Gray yelled desperately, holding onto the pinkette tightly, as if to stop him from fading. _I couldn't live if I lost him! Dammit!_

Natsu`s POV

_Did Gray just . . . say he loves me?! _Natsu thought. Tears continued to roll down his face, but he had stopped sobbing. All of a sudden , pain erupted through his body, but he managed to keep himself from crying out. It felt as though he was being stabbed with thousands of knives, over and over again. It was all Natsu could do to not start screaming in pain.

Even through the agony he was feeling, the pinkette could feel Grays warmth, and it provided him comfort, even if it wasn't much. Though he couldn't hear what Gray was saying, he could tell what the ice mage was trying to get through to him. That he didn't want him to go and fade and Natsu found he didn't want to either.

Suddenly, Natsu could feel himself becoming solid again, and the pain disappearing. But some of the pain still remained in his heart. This pain wasn't due to his fading but the pain of the loss of a family member. The pain that told him he'd never see Lucy again.

Natsu`s vision began to turn black around the edges, and he knew he had to tell Gray something before he passed out. "I love you, Gray," Natsu managed to whisper before his world turned black. Again.


	6. Chapter 6 As Time Passes

**Natsu did not fade in the last chapter. Sorry if I caused any confusion with that.**

**And thank you so much dragonrider 848 and darkhuntressxir for the awesome reviews. This will my last chapter, so I hope you enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE AMAZING FAIRY TAIL**

* * *

Chapter Six: As Time Passes

~~Three Months Later~~

Grays POV

It'd been three months since Natsu almost completely faded, but it almost seemed as though the incident had never happened. The dragon slayer was acting like he had before he began falling into his depression, challenging guild members and picking fights. But sometimes, when Natsu thought no one was looking, (though Gray was), he would get this sad and lonely look on his face. Every time Gray saw that, he would remember the day his boyfriend,(A/N Yes, they got together), almost disappeared from the world.

~~Flashback~~

"I love you, Gray," the ice mage heard Natsu whisper, barely catching the words. Suddenly, the pinkette went limp in his arms, and he looked peaceful, as if he were sleeping.

Then yelling could be heard not far from them, and Gray recognized it as Erzas voice. Relief flooded the ice mages system, and he called put to her for help. When the red head found them, she didn't ask questions, but instead assisted them back to Fairy Tail. Erza was good like that, doing what she needed to before asking questions.

When Gray, carrying Natsu on his back, and Erza rushed into the guild, they could sense the tense and worried aura coming from everyone. Before anyone could react or say anything, Gray, still carrying Natsu, and Erza ran up to the infirmary. They had Wendy check up on Natsu, instead of calling on Porlyusca again, and she declared that he wasn't in danger of fading at the moment, but certain things could set him off.

***FTFTFT***

When Natsu woke up about three hours later, he was already acting more like his old self. He had one of his trademark smiles that could brighten even the saddest person's day. It was then that the ice mage decided to confess to the dragon slayer and said,"I'm in love with you, Natsu."

"I'm I'm love with you too, Gray," Natsu declared, he closed the distance between the two, and kissed the ice mage. Gray just sat there in surprise, unable form a coherent thought. But this surprise soon disappeared, and kissed back gently, smiling into it.

It was then that, by unspoken word, that they became a couple, and being completely happy with it, though the guild was shocked.

~~End of Flashback~~

Over the months after that, Natsu started turning back to his old self, with the help of Gray and his relationship.

Currently, in the guild, Natsu was staring at the bar counter top blankly, a frown on his face. Gray sat next to him and putting an arm over his shoulders.

"Natsu, are you okay? You seem a bit down," Gray whispered to him so no one in the guild hall could hear him. The dragon slayer just nodded. He looked over and gave a reassuring smile when he saw the disbelieving look on his face.

"I'm just thinking about Lucy," he said quietly, a tear managing to slide down his face.

"Hey, stop it. That wasn't your fault. It couldn't be helped. You can't change what happened, so stop thinking about it, alright?" Gray said gently, wiping away the tear with his free hand, then kissed the pinkette lightly on the lips.

The ice mage could sense some of the guild members watching with curiosity. He ignored them, giving all his attention to Natsu. When they separated, the dragon slayer smiled brightly, and Gray could tell it was genuine.

"It'll get better as time passes. Don't worry about it," he said, only getting a small nod in response.

Natsu`s POV

Natsu was glad he was alive, glad he hadn't faded away, because now he had something to live for. He had something to grab hold of and keep him going. The pinkette knew his life would be full of ups and downs, but he also knew that he would always be able to get through it, as long as he had Gray by his side.


	7. Note about sequel

**So I'm thinking about writing a sequel to my story Fading Natsu, and I want you guys out there to review and tell me what you think. Let me know and I'll also take requests for it. Thanks.**

**Dragneellover out.**


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